# Pitting the latest trend to hit the SDMB: starting every Pit thread with "Pitting". **URL:** \ **Category:** The BBQ Pit\ **Created:** [January 18, 2004, 9:51pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/pitting-the-latest-trend-to-hit-the-sdmb-starting-every-pit-thread-with-pitting/225148 "2004-01-18T21:51:04Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 9\ **Page:** 2
**Author:** ![gluteus\_maximus](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/g/f17d59/32.png) [@gluteus\_maximus](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/gluteus_maximus)\ **Post date:** [January 20, 2004, 2:46pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/pitting-the-latest-trend-to-hit-the-sdmb-starting-every-pit-thread-with-pitting/225148/21 "2004-01-20T14:46:50Z")
“America Bless God” You know, since this is the Pit, and all, I just thought I’d say that. ---
**Author:** ![Airman\_Doors\_USAF](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/e36b37/32.png) [@Airman\_Doors\_USAF](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Airman_Doors_USAF)\ **Post date:** [January 20, 2004, 6:33pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/pitting-the-latest-trend-to-hit-the-sdmb-starting-every-pit-thread-with-pitting/225148/22 "2004-01-20T18:33:03Z")
> [@gluteus maximus](#): > > Here’s a little mini-pit within your own pit, just for you, **Airman Doors, USAF** , for starting this Pit thread about _ **Pitting the latest trend to hit the SDMB: starting every Pit thread with “Pitting”.** _ with ‘Pitting…’. > > I mean, what kind of ‘Post as I say, not as I post.’ kinda malarkey is that? > > The worst thing about starting Pit threads with ‘Pitting…’ is that it’s a promulgation of that Evil of Evils… _ **The Verbing of a Noun** _! > > Back up to the main pit… It’s readily apparent that the concept of a parody eludes you. The thread title was only written that way to highlight how silly the whole “I Pit thee” trend really is. However, if you want to accuse me of malfeasance, that’s entirely up to you. ---
**Author:** ![SpoilerVirgin](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/4491bb/32.png) [@SpoilerVirgin](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/SpoilerVirgin)\ **Post date:** [January 20, 2004, 11:56pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/pitting-the-latest-trend-to-hit-the-sdmb-starting-every-pit-thread-with-pitting/225148/23 "2004-01-20T23:56:55Z")
I don’t create Pit threads, but I read a lot of them, and I like the “Pitting…” format. It’s succinct and and tells me exactly what I’m about to read. Compare I pit my ex best pal Pitting Brett Favre In which I pit Oregon weather to titles like If you assume it’s a baby, don’t claim to be confused (which I thought was going to be about someone mistaking a pet for a human baby, but turned out to be another abortion thread) “If there weren’t any seasons, you wouldn’t appreciate summer” (apparently pitting the triteness of the catchphrase, but which could have been about any number of things) I just scratched the hell out of an SUV’s paint job about two hours ago (which turned out to be a very good rant pitting a jerk of a driver, but which was naturally assumed by some people to be another rant about SUV’s) I much prefer the straigtforward “Pitting…” and its variants to titles that don’t accurately convey what is being pitted. ---
**Author:** ![Bear\_Nenno](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/bear_nenno/32/3358_2.png) [@Bear\_Nenno](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Bear_Nenno)\ **Post date:** [January 21, 2004, 1:55am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/pitting-the-latest-trend-to-hit-the-sdmb-starting-every-pit-thread-with-pitting/225148/24 "2004-01-21T01:55:30Z")
[QUOTE=Knowed Out] I once dated a chick whose friends were all SCA posers. Their catchphrase was “Chompy chomp. Chompy chewy chomp.” Even if they weren’t eating. QUOTE]That’s from South Park! … talk about an anachronism ---
**Author:** ![umop\_ap\_sdn](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/u/dbc845/32.png) [@umop\_ap\_sdn](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/umop_ap_sdn)\ **Post date:** [January 21, 2004, 4:30am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/pitting-the-latest-trend-to-hit-the-sdmb-starting-every-pit-thread-with-pitting/225148/25 "2004-01-21T04:30:29Z")
So, **Airman Doors** , vitriol must be purified and distilled to perfection? The following words/phrases would have to be eliminated from thread titles: “In which I pit” “damn you” “fuck you” “or” “my [fat/white/furry/whatever] ass” Would you have preferred I simply title my thread What The Hell Is This Shit and leave it at that? (Sure, you could read part of the OP using the hint box but that’s beside the point.) Not everybody assumes that the title of a thread is what is being pitted. There is a certain psychology inherent in the phrasing of “I pit my ex best pal” instead of “My ex best pal” because the former gives a clearer picture of what to expect. Besides, take the example of “Pitting the twits from Sat. night, and a question for former shoplifters” which is a perfectly clear title but would be misleading were it not for the word “pitting”. ---
**Author:** ![shijinn](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/cc9497/32.png) [@shijinn](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/shijinn)\ **Post date:** [January 21, 2004, 5:24am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/pitting-the-latest-trend-to-hit-the-sdmb-starting-every-pit-thread-with-pitting/225148/26 "2004-01-21T05:24:31Z")
> [@Knowed Out](#): > > … Stay with any community, actual or virtual, long enough and you’ll have to either suffer the stupid buzzwords catch phrases that come with the territory or give in and be part of the problem. … The 1920’s death style rays thing annoys me the most here at SDMB, I’ll admit, at the risk of getting inundated with it. I started putting the most guilty offenders on ignore, but the content of too many threads got blanked out, so in a sense they won. Shows you what a major power the abundance of assholishness can be. … really? o.O you’re equating posts that are generally not aimed at getting anyone riled up, to “assholishness”? i pit the ‘assholey’ stuck-ups who feel they need to ‘suffer’ the quirks of the community. ---
**Author:** ![gluteus\_maximus](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/g/f17d59/32.png) [@gluteus\_maximus](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/gluteus_maximus)\ **Post date:** [January 21, 2004, 4:28pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/pitting-the-latest-trend-to-hit-the-sdmb-starting-every-pit-thread-with-pitting/225148/27 "2004-01-21T16:28:49Z")
> [@Airman Doors](#): > > It’s readily apparent that the concept of a parody eludes you. > > However, if you want to accuse me of malfeasance, that’s entirely up to you. It’s readily apparent that you were talking to yourself there. It’s also readily apparent that you don’t know what ‘malfeasance’ is, but that still won’t cause me to start accusing you of any crimes. Nice try on the parody, by the way. ---
**Author:** ![Airman\_Doors\_USAF](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/e36b37/32.png) [@Airman\_Doors\_USAF](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Airman_Doors_USAF)\ **Post date:** [January 21, 2004, 9:38pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/pitting-the-latest-trend-to-hit-the-sdmb-starting-every-pit-thread-with-pitting/225148/28 "2004-01-21T21:38:07Z")
> [@gluteus maximus](#): > > It’s also readily apparent that you don’t know what ‘malfeasance’ is, but that still won’t cause me to start accusing you of any crimes. Really? Are you sure? Hmmm… [Malfeasance:a wrongful act that the actor had no right to do](http://dictionary.reference.com/search?q=malfeasance) Looks like I DID know what it means. Since you obviously don’t, [here](http://thesaurus.reference.com/search?q=malfeasance) is a list of synonyms to help you out. I’m sure you can find one appropriate to the occasion. It might not be the usage of the word that you would have chosen, but it is nonetheless acceptable usage. “Crime” per se has nothing to do with it. So that’s twice you’ve tried and failed to prove me wrong, semantics boy. Want to go for three? ---
**Author:** ![gluteus\_maximus](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/g/f17d59/32.png) [@gluteus\_maximus](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/gluteus_maximus)\ **Post date:** [January 23, 2004, 5:13pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/pitting-the-latest-trend-to-hit-the-sdmb-starting-every-pit-thread-with-pitting/225148/29 "2004-01-23T17:13:57Z")
> [@Airman Doors](#): > > Really? Are you sure? > > Hmmm… > > [Malfeasance:a wrongful act that the actor had no right to do](http://dictionary.reference.com/search?q=malfeasance) > > Looks like I DID know what it means. > > Since you obviously don’t, [here](http://thesaurus.reference.com/search?q=malfeasance) is a list of synonyms to help you out. I’m sure you can find one appropriate to the occasion. > > It might not be the usage of the word that you would have chosen, but it is nonetheless acceptable usage. “Crime” per se has nothing to do with it. > > So that’s twice you’ve tried and failed to prove me wrong, semantics boy. Want to go for three? Thanks, non-semantics boy, but I already have a dictionary and a thesaurus (real, library-edition, book-type ones!), and ‘semantics’ doesn’t mean copying only the part of a definition that suits you. From your link: > [@](#): > > malfeasance > > \Mal\*fea"sance, n. [F. malfaisance, fr. malfaisant injurious, doing ill; mal ill, evil + faisant doing, p. pr. of faire to do. See Malice, Feasible, and cf. Maleficence.]**(Law)** The doing of an act which a person ought not to do; evil conduct; an illegal deed. (bolding mine) > [@](#): > > from [Encarta](http://encarta.msn.com/dictionary_/malfeasance.html): > mal·fea·sance (plural mal·fea·sanc·es) > noun > > 1. misconduct: wrong or illegal conduct, especially in politics or the civil service. > See also misfeasance > See also nonfeasance > > 2. unlawful act: an unlawful act, especially one committed by a politician or civil servant > > [Late 17th century. From Anglo-Norman malfaisance , from Old French malfaire “to do ill,” from Latin malefacere .] > [@](#): > > from [Merriam-Webster](http://www.m-w.com/cgi-bin/dictionary?book=Dictionary&va=malfeasance&x=5&y=19): > Main Entry: mal·fea·sance > Pronunciation: "mal-'fE-z&n(t)s > Function: noun > Etymology: mal- + obsolete feasance doing, execution > : wrongdoing or misconduct especially by a public official Just to review, from your thesaurus link, > [@](#): > > bribery, bribing, crime, crookedness, demoralization, dishonesty, exploitation, extortion, fiddling, fraud, fraudulency, graft, jobbery, malfeasance, misrepresentation, nepotism, payoff, payola, profiteering, racket, shadiness, shady deal, shuffle, skimming, squeeze, unscrupulousness, venality Well, perhaps you did know what ‘malfeasance’ means, but unless you were posting here as a corrupt public official, it doesn’t apply, so it still looks like you don’t know what it means, or at least don’t understand its usage. I certainly never accused you of anything even resembling malfeasance, or any other possible ‘wrongful action’. My term was ‘malarkey’, and it was in jest. I never said you didn’t have a right to do it. Just in case you didn’t understand, when I said that “the verbing of a noun” was “that Evil of Evils”, I wasn’t accusing you. I was speaking generally of all noun verbers. [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/pitting-the-latest-trend-to-hit-the-sdmb-starting-every-pit-thread-with-pitting/225148.md?page=1)